#008- Video Game Controllers

It is how most of us express ourselves… through incredible pieces of metal and plastic. These serve as a vessel for many of us to truly show the world what we’re all about… and without them… we just wouldn’t be able to speak what we truly feel inside. Of course I’m talking about video game controllers! It’s that time again! Time to list your favorite controllers ever! List all 80 of them!! Or just pick one, the choice is yours! LET’S GET IT ON P-WING GAMERS!!

Top Picks!
By submitting your list in the comment section or discussing it on the chat/forums the #1 Video Game Controller will be taken and displayed below!

Top P-Wing Picks!

The standard GameCube controller provides haptic feedback by way of a built-in rumble motor rather than using an external Rumble Pak add-on like the Nintendo 64 controller. Also unlike its predecessor, this controller does not feature any expansion capabilities.
The controller features a total of six digital buttons, two analog sticks, a d-pad and two hybrid analog triggers/digital buttons.

Refia’s Pick – Arcade Stick (Sega Astro City layout)

From Refia: “Arcade Stick (preferably Sega Astro City Layout)/Sanwa or Seimitsu stick/Mechanical Cherry MX buttons -Pretty much just describing my current custom arcade stick layout but u could generalize to most types of arcade sticks and I would put it up here. HOO BOY nothin quite feels like playin arcade games on these bad boys so #1 easily. Very responsive and everything just feels like it’s supposed to and all the buttons are easy to reach and activate. Doesn’t make arcade games any less BS tho!!!!”

Mock’s Pick – SEGA’s Saturn Controller (1995)

It has a circular D-Pad, a Start button, and six face buttons; A, B, C, X, Y and Z. New to the Saturn is the addition of two shoulder buttons, L and R, which replace the Mega Drive’s “mode” button to bring the total number of buttons to nine. Like the Mega Drive Control Pad(s), it is ergonomically designed for maximum comfort.

gamma’s Pick – Sony’s Dualshock 3 (2006)

The Dualshock 3 wireless controller for the PlayStation 3 system provides the most intuitive game play experience with pressure sensors in each action button and the inclusion of the highly sensitive SIXAXIS™ motion sensing technology. Each hit, crash and explosion is more realistic when the user feels the rumble right in the palm of their hand. It can even detect natural movements for real-time and high precision interactive play, acting as a natural extension of the user?s body. Dualshock 3 wireless controller utilizes Bluetooth technology for wireless game play and the controller?s USB cable to seamlessly and automatically charge the controller through the PlayStation 3 system at anytime.

Gamblor’s Pick – Nintendo’s Switch Pro (2017)

Nintendo fans! Enhance your gameplay while taking your experience to the next level with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller. The unique design of this pro controller includes motion controls, HD rumble, two analog control sticks and the ability to read amiibo figures. From games like Super Mario to Zelda: Breath of the Wild, this controller is sure to take you on an epic journey with ease. Whether the console is docked or undocked, the pro controller allows you to keep playing in any mode for endless gaming fun with your friends.

Okay first of all its a vague thing to list cause obviously if u try to play dark souls with a snes controller or somethin ur gonna have a bad time or w/e but anyway ill just assume its for the type of game theyre ideal for

1. Arcade Stick (preferably Sega Astro City Layout)/Sanwa or Seimitsu stick/Mechanical Cherry MX buttons -Pretty much just describing my current custom arcade stick layout but u could generalize to most types of arcade sticks and I would put it up here. HOO BOY nothin quite feels like playin arcade games on these bad boys so #1 easily. Very responsive and everything just feels like it’s supposed to and all the buttons are easy to reach and activate. Doesn’t make arcade games any less BS tho!!!!

2. 8Bitdo SN30 Pro G Classic- Not joking btw!!! My current controlla of choice for retro and modern games. Works on Switch, PC, Android, and Mac. What more do ya want???? It looks like it wouldnt feel very good but the button placement is similar to the Super Famicom controlla and it has thumb sticks so it works with modern games and I have to say it covers a huge variety of games, probably even more so than first party modern controllers. Pretty dang impressed. I beat mega man 1-11 on this bad boy so it can’t be too bad!!!

3. Nintendo Switch Pro Controller/Dualshock 4 – Ok this is pretty much a tie…hard to pick one or the other. The Dualshock 4 has probably the best D-pad I’ve used and the Pro controllers just feels better overall. Very good controllas and definitely very high up.

4. Wii U Gamepad – This thing is heavily underrated and yeah it’s kinda ridiculous but it feels amazing to hold and this is the ultimate controller for people with big hands other than maybe the original XBox controller. Gotta say I still enjoy using it. It can get more tiresome than the others holding it but it is pretty great feeling overall.

5. Steam controller – Another underrated masterpiece!!! But in my opinion they marketed it to the wrong niche. It’s not so great for first person shooters (and let’s face it you’re probably gonna just use mouse n keyboard if you’re on PC) but for adventure games and a lot of other games that aren’t super twitchy this thing owns. You can set the gyro to the camera so when you hold a button down you can move the controller to look around faster. It’s very innovative and improves a lot of games quite a bit, you just have to fiddle with configuration setup to get to that point. Very solid though and a lot of people laugh at it but it’s amazin. Not to mention the paddles on the back that let you do more things than 99% of controllers without moving your hands off of any buttons. You can set any command you want to a half pull or full pull of the triggers, which in a lot of games like rocket league or racing games lends itself very naturally to an acceleration on half pull and boost on full pull setup. And it doesn’t take 5 million years to press all da way down!!! Incredible!!!

Worst major first-party console controller – Gamecube. Overrated trash and I had to put it on here because I couldnt make my list like 100 controllers long to put it on the bottom np. It feels good to hold it sure but then you play a game where you have to use the B button or D pad or u have to click L or R in and remember that you can take a nap for an hour and wake up before the shoulder buttons finish traveling all the way down and then ur like oh this isn’t so great after all in fact you could probably read this entire paragraph before they finally clicked in to boot and then make some decent headway into war n peace!!! grbac!!!

Well it was either that or the “rectangle” original NES controller. Those edges can fuck off!!!!!!!!

1. Sega Saturn default controller
Amazing pad, so comfy, the best feeling buttons of any controller made by man. D-pad is perfect, even the clicky shoulders are a blast to use.

2. Wii U Pro Controller
Everyone gushes over the Switch Pro Controller, but it’s not as good as the Wii U, imo!

3. Gamecube Controller
I’m not digging it as much lately, don’t get me wrong it’s a fantastic controller and I may have ranked it #1 in the past. The L and R triggers just ruin it for me in any game that uses those as digital input rather than analog.

4. Wii U Gamepad
Another Wii U entry, incredible! The reasons refia listed are true, and this will probably be the only console with DS games playable on the big screen for obvious reasons – it’s all about the second screen!

5. SNES Controller
My originals were all falling apart so this has fallen down the list in recent times, but that’s all changed now. I’ve got my SNES-Classic version plugged into a Wii Remote and that connects wirelessly to the 8bitdo retro receiver so I can play my SNES wirelessly with an AUTHENTIC Nintendo pad. Unreal!

1) Switch Pro controller – the perfect controller. Perfectly curved and comfortable, buttons and sticks feel great, great static triggers that can be rapidly clicked. It even has usb-c ports to charge instead of shitty micro usb ports that bend and break easily. There’s nothing wrong with this controller.

2) XBox One controller – Basically the same thing as 1 except with micro usbs. Everything’s also very comfortable. No huge flaws here.

3) Dual Shock 4 – A huge step up from previous Playstation controllers that I never really liked. They finally dropped the classic angular design that I felt was uncomfortable in favor of smoother curved handles. It would be as good as Switch Pro and Xbone if not for the placement of the left stick. The stick being in the top left is better for 3D gaming and gives you more control. I think all 3 current gen controllers are really good and came a long way from previous systems.

4) SNES controller – The perfect controller for 2D dpad gaming.

Dishonerable mention: Gamecube controller – Not sure why everyone seems to like this controller. The dpad is tiny and shitty, the c stick nub is small and hard to use without slipping off, the z button is almost impossible to press and is used by a lot of games, the L and R triggers are gigantic and exhausting to push all the way down, and the weird A/B/X/Y placement makes it worse to play games that aren’t specifically designed to use it. The standard snes layout is so much easier to press in most games. Its a pointlessly weird layout for the sake of being weird. The big crappy triggers even make it suck for Smash since it slows down the player’s shielding. Devs were even so dumb as to require you to “click” the triggers all the way down when there was a static action to perform, such as firing a bullet. Why not just make any pressure on the triggers perform the action? Why make me push them all the way down AND click them? Stupid design.